Kashmir issue ‘cannot keep boiling’, has to be settled: Pakistan PM Imran Khan

Srinagar: Batting for dialogue with India, Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has said that Kashmir issue has to be settled and “cannot keep boiling like it is”, the BBC reported.

“…peace with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir would be “tremendous” for the wider region,” Khan was quoted as having said by the BBC on Wednesday.

Khan, a former cricketer who became the prime minister eight months ago, said the nuclear-armed neighbours could only settle their differences with dialogue.

Asked what message he wanted to send to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his country, Mr Khan told the BBC’s John Simpson that the Kashmir issue “has to be settled” and “cannot keep boiling like it is”.

“The number-one tasks of the two governments is how are we going to reduce poverty and the way we reduce poverty is by settling our differences through dialogue and there is only one difference – which is Kashmir,” he said.

Khan, as per the report, said the Confrontation was very dangerous for both India and Pakistan. “Once you respond, no-one can predict where it can go from there,” he said.

If India had “come back and then again attacked Pakistan, Pakistan would have no choice but to respond,” he added. “So in that situation, two nuclear-armed countries, I just felt it was very irresponsible.”